Hope from the “Fish Hawk”

“In this gloomy age, with our environment being assailed on so many fronts, it’s worth remembering the lesson of the Osprey.”

Peter Dunne

Near our home at Lake Norman, two platforms on tall posts rise from the shallow waters between nearby wooded islands. Each platform hosts a clutter of twigs and sticks from which, every spring, ospreys hatch, grow, and eventually launch into the sky. 

Some mornings, I will see an osprey take flight from the top of a tree, fly in slow circles over the lake near the shore, hover, and then plunge, feet-first, into the water. Often the dive is successful and the bird will rise, talons gripping a fish. Just as often it isn’t, and the cycle begins again—circle, hover, plunge.

Ospreys are hawks whose primary food source is fish. Hence, the osprey is often referred to as the “fish hawk.” Like your uncle who spent every Saturday morning with a rod and reel, ospreys want to be where the fishing is good—lakes, rivers, and the coast. And they are abundant in these areas. In some sections of Florida, ospreys must consider coastal waterway signs prime real estate for home building because almost every sign is topped with a nest.

Though ospreys are abundant, seeing one is still a thrill. I recognize quickly the tell-tale M-shape of one gliding in the sky, the unique brown and white coloring. When I recently learned that they were almost wiped out, their presence now holds something new for me—hope.

Thanks to our heavy use of DDT from the 1940s to the early 1970s, the pesticide flowed into rivers, lakes, and oceans contaminating the osprey’s food supply. The hawks began to lay eggs with abnormally thin shells, and the young didn’t survive. Over that time, the population of ospreys was decimated. But thanks to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (published in 1962), and the acts of other people who cared, the EPA was established in 1970, DDT was banned in 1972, artificial nest platforms were erected, and an environmental movement began. And eventually, the osprey came back from the edge.

In all the bad news and concerns of today, I want not to forget the good news of what’s been restored. We humans made some changes and made a difference. We will again. And across the lake, I see hope on wings.